2024–2025 Messages From the President
News from the Hill - Monday, June 30, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
As the final News from the Hill until September, I would like to begin by thanking our amazing faculty and staff for the excellent work that they do each and every day. We are blessed with a talented and caring group of adults who challenge, support, and inspire our students. I also want to recognize our wonderful students who mostly live out our mission statement’s final line, “Guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ, East Catholic is a welcoming environment for all students.” That is a high bar but one we are committed to forever. We will continue to stress the importance of our mission as we move into next year and beyond.
As we look to next year, I wanted to share next year’s theme with you. We are spotlighting the word accountability as the theme. The theme spans myriad areas from doing your homework, to fulfilling service hours, from being kind and welcoming to others, to meeting team objectives. All of us can learn to be more accountable in all we do. The One Book, One Community summer reading book is titled Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson. Published in 2014, the New York Times Bestseller and 100 Notable Books of 2014 chronicles the story of Bryan Stevenson, “a gifted young attorney [who] founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending the poor, the wrongly condemned, and those trapped in the furthest reaches of our criminal justice system.” We look forward to focusing on the theme and reading this impactful book!
I will leave you with some results from a recent survey completed by our rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors. We wanted to evaluate our advisor program which we started four years ago. A committee of faculty members developed the survey (many thanks!), and we administered it to 309 students prior to exams. The survey has six statements and asks students to Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree, and there are opportunities to write comments as well. The approval ratings below are the total of Strongly Agree and Agree. As you can see, the results were very impressive. We will continue to develop our advisory program, but it is nice to see that our students value the program already!
Approval Ratings for Advisor Feedback (309 responses)
Question & Approval Rating:
- My Advisory is a welcoming environment for all students: 99.3%
- My advisory provides opportunities for students to get to know one another and to build community: 97.4%
- I feel comfortable approaching my advisor: 98.4%
- I feel like my advisor makes an effort to get to know the students in my advisory group: 90.2%
- Upcoming school events are clearly announced by my advisor: 94.2%
- My advisor reviews my progress and grades with me: 79.6%
TOTAL: 93.2
As we continue with the summer, I'm wishing everyone a relaxing and rejuvenating few months. School offices are open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Please be in touch should you need anything.
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, May 30, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
The past couple of weeks have been all about the Class of 2025. As you will see below, they have been celebrated, feted, and soaked by rain, but we could not be happier to send them off as well as we could. Our Summa Award recipients had their ceremony at the University of Saint Joseph, and our four recipients were recognized with the teachers the winners identified as the most influential in their high school years. It is a unique ceremony in that the students speak about their teachers, thanking them for all the care and wisdom that they provided.
Last week, we began on Monday with our senior farewell ceremony, followed by graduation rehearsal. On Tuesday night, the seniors had a project graduation senior party at Pinebrook Swim & Tennis Club. On Wednesday we celebrated our Baccalaureate Mass with Archbishop Coyne, and on Thursday evening, the Class of 2025 had graduation exercises at the Cathedral of St. Joseph. It was a wonderful evening (other than the weather)! We wish all members of the Class of 2025 health, happiness, and success!
For the three classes that remain behind, things are wrapping up quite quickly. We had our last day of classes yesterday and move into our final exam review and exams from May 30 to June 6. Best of luck to everyone on finishing up the year well.
As we look to the 2025–2026 school year, I wanted to share next year’s theme with you. We are spotlighting the word accountability as the theme. The theme spans myriad areas from doing your homework, to fulfilling service hours, from being kind and welcoming to others, to meeting team objectives. All of us can learn to be more accountable in all we do.
The One Book, One Community summer reading book is titled Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson. Published in 2014, the New York Times Bestseller and 100 Notable Books of 2014 chronicles the story of Bryan Stevenson, “a gifted young attorney [who] founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending the poor, the wrongly condemned, and those trapped in the furthest reaches of our criminal justice system.” We look forward to focusing on the theme and reading this impactful book!
There will be one more News from the Hill in two weeks, but I hope you all finish off the year well and get ready to enjoy summer!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, May 9, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
Aside from rainforest weather conditions, all is well on the Hill. The Class of 2025 is down to single digits for remaining class days, spring teams are qualifying for state tournaments, the final concert of the year was a great success, and 15 of our students received the Sacraments of Initiation at the Cathedral of St. Joseph!
Many thanks to Father Matt, our religion teachers, and the campus ministry office for their help in getting 15 of our current students prepared for the Sacraments of Initiation. Archbishop Coyne presided over the special service at the Cathedral of St. Joseph on April 27. So impressive on many fronts!
I am always blown away by the talented artists and musicians who entertain us at art shows and concerts. On May 1, we were lucky to see their work on display at the spring art show and concert. Bittersweet as we bid farewell to our seniors, but it was another wonderful evening. Thank you to our art and music teachers for all of their guidance and support.
On Monday, April 28, our East Catholic community joined with other Catholics and non-Catholics in recognizing the life of an amazing man, Pope Francis. It has been nostalgic to look back on his many accomplishments from the past and to see the legacy that will carry on forever. Special thanks to Sister Peggy for her story of going to see Pope Francis years ago.
“Eternal rest grant to Pope Francis, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in Peace.”
The Class of 2025 has a lot going on over the next two weeks. Their final day of classes is Thursday, May 15, senior prom is on the 16, senior farewell (followed by graduation practice) is on the 19, and the senior project graduation picnic is on the 20. Baccalaureate Mass is on Wednesday, May 21 at 6:00 p.m. at St. Margaret Mary Church in South Windsor, and graduation is at the Cathedral of St. Joseph at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 22.
There is no school on Friday, May 23 or Monday, May 26.
Please join me in congratulating our seniors. We wish them well and hope they will stay connected to their East Catholic family.
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, April 25, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
Spring greetings from the Hill! I hope everyone had a relaxing spring break. We continue to remain busy and fully engaged as the school year progresses quickly. Friday marked the midpoint of the 4th quarter, so if you are behind in any work, now is the time to catch up.
On Wednesday, we had our “Evening of Recognition,” a new title for our combined academic awards, book prizes, and senior awards. It was well-organized by our school counselors, department chairs, and administration. Dozens of students were duly recognized for their accomplishments in the classroom, in our arts programs, in campus ministry work, and on the athletic fields. Parents reported the event was a success!
We had our annual blood drive on Thursday. Over 30 students, faculty, and staff donated, and everything went well. If you were not able to make it, please consider giving at another time and/or place. Also on Thursday, the whole school listened to speeches from members of the class of 2026 who are seeking election in all-school government positions. Voting will commence over the next two days, and we will announce the winners next week.
Thank you to all who donated to the Project Graduation Textile Drive. If you have been driving around with donations in your car, you still have two more days to drop them off! Volunteers will be waiting by the garage bays to take the items off your hands before and after school on Monday and Tuesday.
We have some events coming up that I wanted to highlight. On Monday, April 28, we will be welcoming our incoming freshmen for an orientation at 6:00 p.m. Parents will meet with administrators in the auditorium, while students will mingle with our current student ambassadors. We look forward to meeting the Class of 2029 and their families. Two days later, we will have “Coffee and Conversation with the President” at 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. in the conference room. This is a new initiative. Parents are invited to come and visit with me to hear about what is going on at East. Hope to see many of you there. On May 1 we will have our spring concert and art show at 7:00 p.m. And on Friday, May 2, we have an 11:30 a.m. dismissal. The Parents’ Association will be sponsoring their annual teacher/staff Appreciation luncheon. The junior prom is also on Friday.
That’s it for now. Please be in touch with questions, comments, concerns, or celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
I hope you are all doing well in this Lenten season. We continue to work our way through the school year, and as you know, things get pretty busy in these final months. We are in the 4th quarter of the academic year, spring sports have begun, and senior activities are ramping up.
On Wednesday, we had our "50 Days until Graduation" luncheon. This is the fourth year we have had the event, and it is a chance to celebrate the senior class as they get ready to graduate and transition to being alumni. This year, our two young alumni who spoke to the Class of 2025 were Megan Russo ’14 and Andrew Kim ’11. Megan talked about her journey after East and her current work at NBC in New York. Andrew is a Major Gifts Officer at Southern Connecticut University. Many thanks to Megan and Andrew for sharing some time with us!
Seniors also participated in their final All-School Mass today. Father Matt gave a great homily, and after mass, we were able to recognize our Summa Scholars – Brianna Flores, Michael Machewirth, Brendan Raykoff, and Olivia Riley – as well as our O’Brien Scholars – the previous four, Jason Dufresne, Daniel FitzGerald, Zoya Goyal, Melanie Plausse, Anna Tevelde, and Christian Tjagvad. Congratulations to all!
Our spring gala is this evening, and we look forward to seeing many of our East Catholic family there. Thank you to all who will attend and to those who have contributed to the auction and raffles. We will let you know how it goes!
Looking ahead, we have one more week of classes before spring break, which runs from April 12 to the 21. Offices are open from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.p. from April 14 until the 17. They are closed on April 18 and April 21 for Easter. Classes resume on April 22. We are combining the senior awards ceremony with our school-wide academic awards on Wednesday, April 23. There is a blood drive on April 24. Many more events to come, but wishing you all a safe and enjoyable spring break and a blessed Easter!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, March 21, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
Spring arrived this week with some lovely, warm temperatures! Believe it or not, the 3rd quarter wraps up on Tuesday, March 25, and that leaves us with only the 4th quarter left for the 2024–25 school year. Time flies!
Well, Stage East certainly did not disappoint! Shrek, the Musical was a huge hit. Beautiful set design, fun and colorful costumes, wonderful music, and talented singing were all on display for three shows last weekend. Congratulations to everyone involved: cast, crew, pit, parents, and those who helped pull it all together!
The winter season came to a close for almost all of our teams. There are a few runners heading to nationals, and a swimmer who will be competing in the state open meet. Wishing them good luck in their final competitions for the year. Spring sports are underway, and we are excited to see how those teams will do in the next couple of months.
One of the highlights each year is our KAIROS retreat. Organized by our campus ministry office, KAIROS is a student-led, three-day retreat that allows participants to grow closer to God through reflections, student talks, adult talks, and community building. I had the opportunity to go by for lunch and to hear one of the student talks on Thursday. I was so impressed with the care and love that the students were showing to each other. I look forward to hearing how it all went when the students return.
Please be aware of a couple of upcoming, fun events. On Friday, April 4 we will be gathering at Maneely’s in South Windsor for our spring fundraising event, Country Charm. I hope to see a good turnout from our current parents. It is a fun night with great food, a silent auction, a live auction, and dancing. We have some fabulous items to bid on, and you could win $5,200 of groceries from Highland Park Market or a beautiful piece of jewelry from Anderson Jewelers. Another fun item is a “potter’s bench” made from the old bleacher wood that we salvaged in the gym renovation (see below). You can’t win if you don’t play!
The second event (also below) is our annual Tom Malin Golf Invitational, taking place at Blackledge Country Club on Friday, June 13. It is always a great day, and we hope to see many of you there. Prizes, lunch, dinner, and fun competition are all in store! All proceeds go to our athletic program.
That’s it for now. Please be in touch with questions, comments, concerns, or celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, March 7, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
The snow is almost all gone, and warmer temperatures are on the way as we transition from winter to spring here on The Hill. Like always, there is a lot going on! Here are some recaps and looks ahead.
We welcomed in the Lenten season with our all-school Ash Wednesday Mass earlier this week. Our students are always so respectful during masses, and Father Matt Collins continues to do an excellent job as our school chaplain. We are truly blessed to have him in that post.
On Thursday, we welcomed 110 of our students’ grandparents or special relatives. It was a great turnout, and after a quick welcome from me, the grandparents and their students heard from Mrs. Joan Penders. Mrs. Penders taught here back in the 1970s and 1980s, her husband Jim worked at East for 44 years, their three children graduated in the 90s, and three of their grandchildren attended East with the last graduating this year. Grandparents were invited to attend the dress rehearsal for Shrek, the Musical, and by all counts it was a very successful day!
Shrek, the Musical opens tonight Friday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. There are also two shows on Saturday, March 8 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Please come out and support Stage East!
The Parents’ Association has their next meeting on Monday, March 10 at 6:00 p.m. in the conference room. We always love to see new faces there, so please come out and join us. If you cannot attend in person, a Zoom link will be sent out on the morning of the meeting.
As I mentioned in the last News From the Hill, I want to thank all students, parents, faculty, staff, and school board members who completed our administrative feedback survey. The survey had 21 statements that focused on school culture, my role as president, and the roles of the two deans (academics and student life). All 21 statements solicited a response of “Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree.” When crunching the numbers, we considered “Strongly Agree and Agree” to contribute to a “favorability rating.” When we averaged all of the responses, the administration came out with an approval rating of 87.9%! While a bit below the student feedback on teachers (95%), we feel pretty good about the results. We will continue to respectfully seek input from our various constituents as we greatly value your input.
That’s it for now. Please be in touch with questions, comments, concerns, or celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, February 21, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
It has been a quiet week on campus with students and faculty on February break. I hope everyone had a fun and restful break. We are back at school on Monday, February 24. See you then!
Stage East has been rehearsing all week for Shrek, The Musical which opens on Friday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. There are also two shows on Saturday, March 8 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Should there be inclement weather, the snow date is Sunday, March 9. Please come out and support Stage East!
We are excited to welcome grandparents and special older relatives to campus on Thursday, March 6 (see below). Guests will arrive for an 8:00 a.m. start and are invited to stay for the dress rehearsal of Shrek, the Musical. This is always a fun day, and we hope to host many of our grandparents!
Congratulations to Maya Fisher for breaking a school record in the 600m! What a great performance for her and many others at the Class S indoor track Championships! Kudos also to girls’ and boys’ basketball and ice hockey teams for their playoff runs in CCC and CIAC tournaments. It is so good to see so many teams in post-season play. Keep it rolling!
Many thanks to all students, parents, faculty, staff, and school board members who completed our administrator feedback survey. We are still analyzing the data and will provide a summary in the next News From the Hill. We appreciate the constructive comments and the positive reinforcement as well!
We will have a 1:00 p.m. dismissal on Monday, February 24 for teacher PLC, and Ash Wednesday Mass is on Wednesday, March 5.
Please be in touch with questions, comments, concerns, or celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, February 7, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
Well, winter finally decided to arrive with some unpleasant weather. We have had a 2-hour delay and a remote learning day in the past two weeks. Please remember that we do remote days to keep us from making up days in the summer. All reports are that things went well.
Today we hosted a dozen Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (our founding order) for mass and brunch on their feast day. Many of them worked at East Catholic over the years, and of course, Sister Peggy is in her 57th year and still going strong! We host the sisters every year, and it is a highlight for them and for us.
Our school counseling office has picked up on our theme for the year, “Love Your Neighbor,” and they have asked faculty, staff, and students to nominate students who have demonstrated kindness to others. The first students to be recognized were acknowledged at the end of today’s mass. Please join me in congratulating our inaugural group: Ronnie Sheehan, LaTe’jah Gardner, Geo Ramos, Teaghan Carroll, and Tyler Shaw!
Next week will bring the winter sports regular season to a close. We have a number of games on the docket, so please come out to support. CCC playoffs and state tournaments begin the following week, and many of our teams will be playing. Go Eagles!
Also next week, you'll receive an email with a link to a survey. We're asking all students, parents, faculty, staff, and school board members to complete this administrative feedback form. Your input will help us understand how the school and administration are performing. Just as we appreciated the students' thoughtful feedback on their teachers, we now ask everyone to provide honest, thoughtful, and respectful feedback on the administration. Students will complete the survey in advisory, while all other community members will receive the link via email. The survey should only take about five minutes, and your participation is greatly appreciated!
It is hard to believe, but February break is just around the corner! School offices will be closed on Monday, February 17, but will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. from February 18 to 21. Also, don't forget that we have no school on Monday, February 10 to celebrate the state champion boys golf team's victory last spring!
As always, there is lots happening on the Hill! Please be in touch with questions, comments, concerns, or celebrations!
Stay warm,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, January 24, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
Congrats to all of our students and teachers! Yesterday, we completed the first semester with the last day of mid-year exams. Students were off today, and the faculty had a scheduled faculty/staff retreat. On Monday, the second semester begins.
The faculty/staff retreat focused on our theme for the year, “Love Your Neighbor,” as we reflected on what that looks like in our different roles within the school community- teacher, advisor, coach, administrator, etc. It is always great to take a day with our talented faculty and staff to reflect on the good work being done at East Catholic.
Speaking of good work, I had the pleasure of attending the All-State Girls’ Soccer Banquet on Sunday and was proud to see Anya Tansil ’26 recognized as a Class L All-State player (see below). Also recognized was Coach Liz Palmer ’84 who coached the girls’ soccer team at East Catholic for 27 years. Liz was inducted into the Coaches Hall of Fame! It was a great afternoon.
Our winter sports teams are doing quite well as you can see below. Congrats to Urielle Abrokwa ’26 for reaching the 1,000-point threshold in her junior season. I hope many of you will come out to support our teams this winter!
Just a quick reminder about next week. We will have an advisory breakfast first thing on Friday morning, and we will end the day with our winter pep rally.
As always, please be in touch with questions, comments, concerns, or celebrations!
Stay warm,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, January 10, 2025
Dear East Catholic Family,
Happy New Year! I hope you were able to enjoy some rest and quality time with your loved ones over the holidays. As we step into the second half of the school year, East Catholic continues to be a hub of activity, with plenty of exciting events and opportunities to celebrate.
As we approach the upcoming midterm exams, we want to remind everyone that these important assessments will take place over the next two weeks. A review day is scheduled for Tuesday, January 14, giving students an opportunity to revisit material before their exams. Please make use of the weekend and review day to ensure students feel confident and prepared. Remember, your teachers are a valuable resource, so if you have any questions before exams, be sure to reach out to them.
On a celebratory note, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the grand reopening of the Rev. Robert E. Saunders Gymnasium that took place on January 2. It was a wonderful event where we had the chance to showcase our newly renovated facility, now complete with state-of-the-art bleachers, flooring, pads, and, of course, the proud display of our state championship banners. A big thank you to all the generous donors who made this project possible. As a token of our appreciation, donors were presented with a plaque crafted from the original bleachers. If you contributed to the project and were unable to attend on January 2, please reach out to our Advancement Director to receive your plaque. I also want to extend my gratitude to the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams and their coaches for providing exciting games during the event, as well as to our cheerleaders for adding energy and enthusiasm to the celebration. Additionally, we are deeply appreciative of the volleyball team, who were the first to use the gym in the fall. Their patience and flexibility in adjusting their schedules to allow for the final touches of the project were instrumental in making this reopening a reality.
Looking ahead, there are a couple of important dates to note:
Monday, January 20: Please remember that there will be no school on Monday, January 20 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Friday, January 24: There will be no school for students on Friday, January 24, as our faculty and staff will be participating in a retreat.
As we face the colder months ahead, please stay safe, warm, and healthy. We’re looking forward to all the exciting things to come in 2025 and wish everyone the best of luck as they prepare for their exams.
Take care, and as always, please reach out if you have any questions.
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, December 13, 2024
Dear East Catholic Family,
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through Advent. Here at East Catholic, we are fully in the Christmas spirit! Our Donor Reception/Art Show/Christmas Concert was incredibly successful last night. We had a great turnout of donors and were entertained by artists, vocalists, and band members. It is one of my favorite nights of the year.
As we transition from Fall sports to Winter sports, I wanted to recognize the football team for wrapping up a very successful season. With a resounding 37-0 victory over Northwest Catholic in the Archbishop's Cup, the Eagles retained the cup for the fourth year in a row and finished the regular season at 9-1. In the first round of the Class S playoffs, East had to face Bloomfield High School, the only team to beat East in the regular season. East led for most of the game, but they fell 22-21 in the end. It was a great season. Congratulations to Coach Seaver and the entire team!
Winter sports began official games starting on Wednesday this week. Our girls’ hockey co-op won 6-3 against the Northwest/Mercy co-op. Other teams will have their first games in the coming weeks. Please come out and cheer on our talented student-athletes.
As you will see below, we are looking forward to the Grand Reopening of the Reverend Robert E. Saunders Gymnasium on January 2. If you have not seen the gym yet, you are in for a real treat! New bleachers and a newly resurfaced floor make the space pop. The girls’ basketball team will play Manchester High School at 5:00 p.m., followed by the grand reopening celebration, and then the boys’ basketball team will play Newington at 7:00 p.m. Should be a fun night! Hope to see you there.
Please note the following calendar announcement: we will have an 11:30 a.m. dismissal on Friday, December 20. The half-day will conclude with our Christmas program from 10:30 until 11:30 a.m. School offices will be closed from December 23 through 27 and 1December 30 through January 1. Classes will resume on January 2.
On behalf of everyone at East Catholic, I wish the entire East Catholic family a blessed and joyful Christmas!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, November 15, 2024
Dear East Catholic Family,
It has been another couple of busy weeks here on The Hill. We wrapped up Walk-a-thon on Friday with a celebration in the newly renovated Rev. Robert E. Saunders Gymnasium. Lots of fun prizes were given out to dozens of students. Many thanks to all who contributed to the total raised, over $66,000! A portion of the funds raised will be used for some needed landscaping work on campus.
On Monday, November 11, we honored Veterans from the extended East Catholic family. This was our third year doing the event, and each year it keeps getting better! Students made care packages for active military, heard from a panel of Veterans, made videos thanking Veterans, and a group went off campus to East Cemetery in Manchester to put coins on Veteran grave markers. We hosted a great group of Veterans with a pancake breakfast, and heard from our keynote speaker, David Callahan ’83 who served in the US Navy. Many thanks to Adrienne Andrews and Kathy Reilly for the hard work in organizing the day.
We had a Parents’ Association meeting on Tuesday. I highly encourage all parents to attend one of their monthly meetings. They get updates from me and other staff about how the school year is going, and they help plan and run various events throughout the year. It is also a great way to meet other parents. The next meeting will be January 7 at 6:00 p.m. in the conference room.
The girls’ swim team had eight swimmers compete in the CIAC Class S finals and finished fourth out of twenty-four teams! Congratulations on a great season! Football is still playing. They are 7-1 going into this week’s game at Plainville on Friday night. Their final regular season game will be on Wednesday, November 27 at 5:00 p.m. at Cheney Tech vs. Northwest Catholic. It should be a great game!
Please be in touch with any thoughts, concerns, or positive celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, November 1, 2024
Dear East Catholic Family,
It is hard to believe that it is November 1! As usual, we continue to stay very busy here on The Hill. Congratulations to Stage East on a fun and colorful production of Alice in Wonderland last weekend! I am always impressed with how much work goes into the set design, costumes, and - of course - the acting and crew work. Thanks to Mrs. Quackenbush for her leadership and to all who played a part in the performance.
Fall sports regular season has wrapped up for some sports, but we have others involved in post-season competition. Girls’ soccer will host Cheshire in a first-round game of the CIAC Class L tournament on Friday, November 11 at 2:00 p.m.. On Monday, November 4 girls’ volleyball will travel to Immaculate for a 6:00 p.m. match in the Class S tournament. Girls’ swimming will have Class S qualifiers on November 9. Football (5-1) continues their season on Friday, November 1 at Rocky first-round are home at Cheney Tech vs. Lewis Mills next Thursday, November 7. Huge congratulations to Braeden Knotts who finished 3rd in both the CCC Cross Country league championships and the CIAC Class SS race, qualified for the state open, which was yesterday at Wickham Park, and finished 58th. Well done, Braeden! Hope to see many of you out supporting our teams.
We had a fun day of school yesterday with many students dressed up for Halloween! Thanks to everyone who got into the spirit! Next week is Spirit Week as we bring the Walk-a-thon to a close.
Monday – Holiday Dress
Tuesday – Neon Day
Wednesday – “Dress Your Age”
Thursday – Team Jerseys
Friday – Class Colors (9th Green, 10th Red, 11th White, 12th Blue, Faculty/Staff Purple)
It is always fun to see how many students get into Spirit Week. We conclude the week with the walk, some fun games, lunch, and a pep rally on Friday.
Lastly, we are excited for our 3rd Annual Veterans Day program on Monday, November 11. Rather than having a full day off of school, we ask the students to come in for a half-day. We hear from veterans in our East Catholic family as well as learn about those who have served, how to fold an American Flag, and complete some community service for Veterans. Please see the flyer below, and if you or your family members served or are serving, please join us for breakfast.
Please be in touch with any thoughts, concerns, or positive celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, October 18, 2024
Dear East Catholic Family,
Fall arrived this week with some chillier temperatures, but highs in the 70’s are on tap for the weekend. We have shifted to winter dress code, so plan accordingly.
The renovated Rev. Robert E. Saunders Gymnasium is open for business! Our volleyball teams have played a number of games in there over the past two weeks, and it is phenomenal! We had the whole school in there today for our fall pep rally.
Last night we held our annual Fall open house. We had a great turnout of prospective students and their families. Open house is our single biggest admissions event each year, and people love it. Many thanks to our faculty, staff, student ambassadors, and parent volunteers for helping out on such a successful evening.
If you are looking for a good high school football game, head over to Bloomfield High School tonight at 6:30 p.m. East Catholic (4-0) visits Bloomfield (3-2) in the CT football game of the week. Good luck Eagles!
Next weekend we are excited to see Stage East perform in Alice in Wonderland on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Come out and support our actors and actresses!
As you can see below, there are a number of events coming up in the next few weeks. We hope to see our East Catholic family members out in full force!
Please be in touch with any thoughts, concerns, or positive celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News from the Hill - Friday, October 4, 2024
Dear East Catholic Family,
We have hit the midpoint of the first quarter, and the time seems to fly by! Students, this is a good time to check your class grade books to see if any work is missing. Parents, remind them to do this! The end of the quarter will be here before you know it.
We should be able to be in the gym as early as next week. They are finishing the bleachers soon, and the volleyball team will host practices and games next week! It is a beautiful renovation and improvement.
We were blessed to have four members of our East Catholic family recognized for outstanding volunteer work for East Catholic at the HOPES (Help Our Parish Educators & Students) dinner, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Hartford. Charlie Crocini, Joe Reilly, Keri Watkins, and Sarah Kimball all received the St. John Neumann award. We cannot thank them all enough for their love of East Catholic and their dedication to the work they do for East.
On October 17, we will have our fall open house beginning at 6:30 p.m. Please spread the word to friends and families who might be interested. It is always a great night!
Good luck to all of our sports teams as they continue their seasons. Come out and support them when you can. In the next News From The Hill, we will feature our Stage East production of Alice in Wonderland.
Please be in touch with any thoughts, concerns, or positive celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
East Catholic Newsletter - October 4, 2024
News from the Hill - Friday, September 20, 2024
Dear East Catholic Family,
It seems like the students are in the routine of school again after three weeks. They are getting used to the rotating academic schedule and can all find their classrooms at this point. After school, kids are off to sports and play practice. Even drop-off and pick-up seem a bit better!
The freshmen had their retreat last week, and it was a great success. I stopped by for lunch with them, and they were having a great time. Many thanks to the campus ministry office and the peer ministers for their work organizing and running the retreat. Freshman elections will be in the middle of October. I hope to see a competitive slate of candidates!
Two physical plant projects are nearing completion. In the front of the school, there is a statue of the Virgin Mary that we took off of the original convent building from 1960. The building was taken down in 2021, and, in addition to the statue, we also salvaged some bricks from the building. Thanks to generous donors and skilled craftsmen, there is now a grotto in front of Mary made from those bricks. The grotto is there in honor of the sisters from Notre Dame de Namur who worked at East Catholic over the years – 71 in all! Thanks to Charlie Hathaway '93 and Aaron Ansaldi '88 for their generous dedication to the project.
The second project is the gym renovation project. Back in the summer, a number of employees along with other volunteers took the old bleachers apart, painted the walls, and sanded the floor to prep it for a new paint job. We put the final coat of sealant on the floor on Wednesday, and the bleachers arrive next Monday. See the picture in the linked newsletter below for a sneak peek!
There will be a scholarship reception, on Sunday, September 22 at 2:00 p.m. for all students who receive named awards towards tuition. Many of the families who have contributed to these grants will be there in person to present the awards. If you receive a named award, please be there!
Lastly, there is a lot happening here at East. Please get involved. Many of you are already part of a team, a group, or an activity. If you are not, please come out and support our teams and others.
Please be in touch with any thoughts, concerns, or positive celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator
News From The Hill - Friday, September 6, 2024
Dear East Catholic Family,
We had a great couple of weeks to kick off the 2024–2025 school year! We began with four days of orientation by respective class. The Class of 2025 started on campus on Monday and then quickly boarded buses to Winding Trails in Farmington. They had a lot of fun on the high and low rope elements and enjoyed a lunch from Highland Park Market before heading back to school. I expect big things from our seniors. The underclassmen had successful orientation days on campus, culminating with a Freshmen Social on Thursday.
After a nice long weekend, we began classes on Tuesday and had three fairly normal days. Many thanks to all the parents and guardians who came out for Back to School Night on Thursday. It was great to see new and familiar faces in the building. One parent I talked to said that she had been to eleven years of Back to School Nights in a row with four different children. Quite a streak!
The highlight of the week, however, came on Friday with our Convocation program. We began with Advisory before assembling in the auditorium for our first all-school Mass of the year. Following a beautiful Mass with our new Chaplain, Father Matthew Collins, we settled in to hear from Javier Zamora, the author of our One Book, One Community summer read, Solito.
Mr. Zamora did not disappoint. The format was “in-conversation” with a current senior, Maria Jose Aedo-Marcucio, and a recent graduate, Valentina Garcia Solis '23, asking questions and Javier responding. His down-to-earth delivery and thoughtfulness were immediately evident, and the students were enrapt by what he had to say. After a 30-minute slot for small group discussion, the whole school returned to ask additional questions of Mr. Zamora. Once again, his sincere, honest, and poignant responses met with great applause. Following the program, the hallways had a line of 100+ students waiting to get their books signed. Please ask your children about what they thought of the day.
I often talk about what a special place East Catholic is, and it is days like Friday that reinforce that notion. We are blessed to have faculty, staff, and students who care about each other. What a great way to start the year!
Please be in touch with any thoughts, concerns, or positive celebrations!
Peace,
Sean P. Brennan ‘85
Chief Administrator